Matthew Johns examines the mystery of Tony 'T-Rex' Williams' lost form

NaN:aN

THE Roosters-Bulldogs match tonight has all the theatre of a heavyweight title fight. Great theatre contains not only drama, but a hint of menace as well.

And there'll be more than a hint of menace.

There'll be past greats of both teams appearing on the big screen before the game calling for calm among the supporters.

There'll be an added security presence, both around the stadium and around the man this is all about, Sonny Bill Williams.

Get ready for the chants, get ready for the boos, get ready for the hate.

Any man who steps into the boxing ring and puts his health and reputation on the line in front of the world won't be concerned by hecklers in grandstands, no matter how many thousands attend.

Sonny Bill, in the red corner, will be fine. But what about the man who shares a surname in the blue corner? Tony Williams truly is the man under the most pressure tonight.

You see, in relationship breakdowns you don't expect to be liked by your ex - but aim instead to impress your new partner.

And while Sonny Bill will be jeered, howled at and maybe even threatened by his exes for walking out at Belmore, he is very much feeling the love with his new bedfellows at the Roosters.

For T-Rex, however, that is not yet the case. His relationship with the Dogs is off to a rocky start and the blue-and-white jury is still out and growing ever more restless about their new backrower.

Maybe Dogs supporters have expected too much. Williams arrived with much hype at Belmore and everyone had seemed to forget that his previous four seasons at Manly had been very much a mixed bag.

He signed with Manly in 2009, spent his first two seasons on the wing and was very much the whipping boy of the Brookie Hill.

The fans couldn't quite fathom why God Almighty would bestow so many physical gifts upon a bloke who was so unwilling to use them.

But then, just a few rounds into the 2011 season, then-Manly coach Des Hasler decided to shift T-Rex into the back-row.

It was hard to fathom how it was going to work. Williams seemed either too lazy or too exhausted to get involved from his wing.

How was he going to handle the work rate in the forwards?

He not only handled it, but it totally transformed him.

Suddenly he was putting in displays all Manly fans had hoped for.

He was brutal in defence and absolutely devastating running off his brilliant young halves, Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran.

He finished 2011 as a grand final winner and an Australian representative back-rower.

When it became public in 2012 that Williams would defect to Belmore, the Bulldogs, who were already wreaking havoc with their huge pack, appeared they would be unstoppable in 2013.

Instead the understrength Dogs have started the year slowly and T-Rex, once again, is courting enormous criticism for his lacklustre displays.

Lazy? Uninterested? Unfit?

No. Tony Williams is lost. The Bulldogs structure relies on intricate passing movements from set field positions and, after watching Tony's last two outings, it's clear to me he just can't find his place.

While the whole stadium and a million watching on TV are screaming "Get back and run hard!", for Tony it's not that simple. He is trying to fit into what was a very successful attacking style in 2012.

For Williams' sake,I expect Hasler tonight to revert back to a style of football that will feature far more direct power running and less short, flat passing movements.

Without the skill and vision of Sam Kasiano and James Graham, the Dogs' attack has been far less effective in the early season.

But tonight, expect less finesse from the Dogs and more brutality.

In 2000 when the Bulldogs savaged the Roosters in a finals match, forward Luke Ricketson lamented afterwards that the boys from Bondi had turned up in Armani suits, the Bulldogs in boiler suits.

The Dogs will don the boiler suits again tonight.

And they'll need to. Even with their second half hiccup last week, the Roosters will be in the final four come late September.

Their coach, Trent Robinson, has done a terrific job. He has adjusted the Roosters' focus beautifully, asking his players to pour their energies into defence, setting them a goal of saving a try instead of scoring one.

Until the second half at Canberra they had gone three hours without conceding a point.

And what can you say about Sonny Bill Williams?

Don't mistake the hype for ego. The way he has fitted into this team, with their new workmanlike attitude, shows what a pro he is.

News.com.au's Privacy Policy includes important information about our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information (including to provide you with targeted content and advertising based on your online activities). It explains that if you do not provide us with information we have requested from you, we may not be able to provide you with the goods and services you require. It also explains how you can access or seek correction of your personal information, how you can complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with a complaint of that nature.